Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon or anything associated with it. Ermm... I would however hope that you don't copy my work and say it's your own.
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Red's body tingled from the excitement of the upcoming battle. A ghost specialist gym leader would sure present some challenges and since Fantina was a gym leader, he expected she would have some tricks up her sleeve. He hardly listened as the announcer went through the rules again. He was already formulating strategies and possible counter-moves and combinations to beat Fantina. He did however, pay attention again when the field began to change.
"The computer is now selecting a random field out of our seven available ones. For this battle, we'll be on the… ICE FIELD!" The field was placed between the two trainer's boxes and Red surveyed their battlefield. It was a sheet of solid ice, about two feet or so thick, that was peppered with large chunks of ice in strategically placed locations. This wouldn't be an easy battle field for his Pokémon. Pikachu might not have too big of a problem navigating through the ice and Charizard could always fly above the field, but Saur's maneuverability would definitely be down. These three were the Pokémon he had chosen for today. He suddenly wished he had Blastoise who could slide along the ice in its shell. But he had only brought three Pokémon. He felt a bit nervous. He had never liked ghost Pokémon.
"Bonjour monsieur! It is such a pleasure to be battling against a trainer who has come so far in ze competition. Now, you must be a tres magnifique trainer, but I have complete confidence in my wily ghost Pokémon! Spiritomb, battle position please!" Fantina started off with pre-battle conversation.
Red released his Pikachu without a word.
"Let's get things started oui? Spiritomb nasty plot and then psychic!"
"Pikachu, fake out."
"SPIRITOMB FLINCHED! RED STOPPED FANTINA'S PSYCHIC WITH A POWERFUL FAKE OUT! EVEN THOUGH MINIMAL DAMAGE WAS DONE TO SPIRITOMB, THAT FAKE OUT WAS WELL PLACED AND PIKACHU AVOIDS TAKING DAMAGE!" The announcer was getting excited by the battle and the entire stadium was leaning forward in anticipation. What would the mystery trainer from Kanto do next? He had gotten through the trainer rounds without any difficulty, only using his Pikachu, everyone wanted to know just who he was.
"Brick break."
Fantina was surprised, "What? You should know zat your fighting type move has no effect on my Spiritomb." Then, she noticed Red's small smile and was instantly put on guard, "Nasty Plot Spiritomb and then use Psychic to stop Pikachu."
Pikachu's brick break was about to hit Spiritomb but its fighting type move passed right through. Instead, Pikachu's powerful brick break hit the ice on the field and broke it.
"Jump on the ice." At Red's command, Pikachu began jumping from one ice shard to another while Spiritomb was being pummeled by flying shards making it unable to get a clear shot for psychic to hit.
"Iron tail, and let's finish this."
"Spiritomb, stop those ice chunks with your psychic then aim them at Pikachu," ordered Fantina. But Pikachu was too fast and Iron tail hit Spiritomb and caused it to crash down to the ground. Swirly eyes signaled that the battle was over and Red had won.
The crowd went wild. The yellow mouse Pokémon had beaten a powerful Spiritomb, owned by a gym leader no less, and had taken absolutely no damage.
"Nooooooo!" Fantina shouted gracefully. Her Pokémon was defeated, but the battle sure was fun.
"FOLKS WE HAVE JUST SEEN SOMETHING SPECTACULAR!" Freddy was shouting, "THAT PIKACHU IS SOMETHING ELSE, ALONG WITH ITS TRAINER! THE SPEED! THE FINESSE! THE STRATEGY! FANTINA'S GOING TO HAVE A HARD TIME OVERCOMING THAT!"
Fantina was astonished, she had lost her Spiritomb so quickly, and to a Pikachu as well. Red reminded her of Ash. Ash looked just like Red. It was strange. However, Red possessed neither Ash's friendliness nor warmth. Red was a unique combination and if he wanted to, Fantina was sure he would be an amazing contest master. "Well, I am surprised you managed to beat my Spiritomb. Almost none of the challengers at my gym can. But the select few that could, they're in for a nasty surprise with my next Pokémon! Darling Drifblim, battle position please!"
"Pikachu, are you good to battle?"
"Pika-pikachu!" the yellow mouse voiced in an upbeat and determined voice.
"Good."
"Drifblim, sucker punch." The purple balloon Pokémon rushed to follow its master's orders. The sucker punch was neatly dodged by Pikachu who didn't need a command from Red.
"Volt tackle," Red called calmly. Pikachu built up speed and then gathered electricity before rushing towards Drifblim. The ice was hardly affecting Pikachu. Just like in the sand battle, Pikachu's speed seemed to be thwarting gravity.
"Steady Drifblim. We're going to use a counter-shield, but not until the correct moment!" Fantina told her Pokémon who nodded slightly in understanding.
Now what could they be planning? Red wondered as Pikachu's volt tackle headed straight for a Drifblim that showed no intention of moving.
"WILL-O-WISP! NOW!" shouted Fantina. A bluish ring of flame was generated and was immediately controlled by Psychic to circle around the balloon Pokémon protectively. Red's eyes widened as he realized what was about to happen.
Having no time to dodge it, Pikachu crashed right into Drifblim's counter-shield. Ash, who was observing the battle smiled when he recognized his strategy being used.
"Woah, Ash, isn't that the counter-shield you've told me about?" Iris asked him.
Ash replied, "Yeah, it's not surprising that Fantina adopted it and put it into her own strategy."
"Pika-pi!" The mouse Pokémon chirped, telling Red it had taken some damage.
Unfortunately for Fantina, Pikachu's volt tackle had knocked the Will-o-Wisp out and Drifblim was left undefended again. Fantina gasped, Pikachu was very well trained and its defense was far higher than its base stats were. Seeing his chance, Red told Pikachu to use Iron tail.
"Using the same trick isn't going to let you win. Drifblim dear, grab that Pikachu and then sucker punch!"
Red smirked, "I figured you'd learn." The first words he had said to Fantina the entire battle. "Fake out."
Drifblim flinched from the air blast that suddenly hit it. Pikachu was propelled upwards with its iron tail still in effect. Fantina saw her mistake too late and before she could call out her next move, Pikachu's iron tail was slamming into Drifblim at full force. The momentum Pikachu had gained from Fake out pushing it back up was enough for a knock-out.
"Nooooooooo!" Fantina shouted gracefully. The crowd smiled at her predictable reaction.
The crowd began to go crazy. They were chanting Red's name while some of them from Kanto were beginning to recall the rumors of the young trainer at Mt. Silver that also went by the name of Red and had a Pikachu. Some synapses fired and someone suddenly called out, "THAT'S RED FROM MT. SILVER! IT'S HIM!" The crowd was quiet for a moment before chatter started up again. This time, there were people exchanging rumors and gossiping while the Kanto gym leaders looked nervously towards Sabrina, Clair, and Ash. Marie, who was also watching sighed and settled deeper into her seat. People were so predictable. Now she wasn't sure how Red would treat her. He knew now that she knew he was Red from Mt. Silver. His reputation was enough to make a female trainer swoon. His good looks were just a bonus. Marie decided that she wouldn't have any romantic attachment to Red during the competition. Maybe afterwards, if he liked her, she might try to ask him to dinner or something. But with everyone excited that the King of Mount Silver had come to participate in the World Tournament, people would definitely make a fuss.
Red sighed and scuffed his shoes in the dirt.
Ash and his friends were talking amongst themselves. "Who's Red? He's from Kanto, how come I've never heard of him?"
Misty and Brock exchanged looks before Misty said, "He's one of the most powerful trainers in Kanto and probably the entire Pokémon world. He beat Lance, the champion but decided that he couldn't deal with the position of Champion and so he declined it."
"Wow, I want to battle him now!" Ash said with newfound determination to make it far enough in the battles to go up against Red. Misty and Brock exchanged looks again before nodding and wishing Ash the best of luck. Iris and Cilan saw these surreptitious glances and became a little suspicious. Those two were hiding something from Ash, and they were afraid it would be unfortunate for Ash to find out without the help of his friends.
"So you're Red from Mount Silver?" asked Fantina after hearing the chatter from the crowd.
"What can I say," Red sighed in a defeatist manner. "I'm the one and only."
Fantina seemed to be thinking before she decided to say something, "Well, if you—" she stopped, glanced at Red, changed her mind, and then drew out her third Pokéball. "Shall we continue?"
Red replied by surveying Pikachu's condition. When the yellow mouse Pokémon gave him an all-clear nod, Red motioned that he was.
"Dusknoir, it's your time to shine! Battle position!" Fantina's last Pokémon popped out of its poké ball and she smiled. "This will give you a challenge for sure! Dusknoir, Curse!" The room turned dark as Dusknoir's Curse took effect. The Pokémon's HP was sapped and left with only half of the remaining while Pikachu lost a fourth of its HP.
Deciding playing the ghost game wasn't going to work with Pikachu tired from attacking and with a well-placed curse on it. Red withdrew Pikachu and sent out Charizard.
Fantina mentally swore. She hadn't predicted that Red would send out a different Pokémon. Now her Dusknoir had taken a lot of damage and Charizard was fresh and uncursed. She couldn't use Curse again because it would cause Dusknoir to faint. She had to find a way to finish this, and she had to finish it fast. It was about saving face now. Red knew it too. He debated about whether or not he should let Charizard lose so Fantina could have at least something to be proud about but he shook the thought off. No matter what happened between two people, Pokémon didn't have to be sacrificed because of it. Charizard could win, and Red would make sure that Charizard did win. Red despised the concept of throw-away Pokémon.
"Dusknoir, Pain split!" Charizard's health was sapped while some of Dusknoir's was restored.
"GOOD MOVE ON FANTINA'S PART! PAIN SPLIT IS A MOVE THAT SETS BOTH POKÉMON'S HP TO THE SAME AMOUNT! AFTER HER CURSE WAS INEFFECTIVE, IT WAS A WISE DECISION." Freddy told the crowd. His voice was steeped with enthusiasm. It was the first battle, and already it was such an intriguing one. Red was bringing out the best in Fantina while Fantina was giving Red an exciting battle.
Dusknoir looks as good as new. Charizard's HP must've been quite impressive."I haven't had this much fun in quite awhile Red. You're quite the trainer!" Fantina told him with a smile on her face, "I'm just going to battle the best way I know how, and it won't matter if I lose. My Pokémon were tres magnifique. I'm already so very proud."
Red just smiled. "Charizard, dragon pulse."
"Shadow Sneak." Fantina's Dusknoir disappeared into the shadows. It was nowhere to be seen.
"Fly up! Charizard!" Red commanded urgently. Shadow sneak was known by a select few Pokémon and it was impressive whenever it was learned.
Fantina smiled, "Unfortunately, that won't do much." Dusknoir appeared behind Charizard after jumping up and attacked. Charizard crashed into the icy field and landed in a heap. The ice was crushed underneath of Charizard and Fantina suddenly had an idea.
"Dusknoir. Will-o-Wisp on the ice."
What is she trying to do? Red wondered before telling Charizard to get up and fly into the air again.
Once again, Fantina smiled, Too predictable Red. Way too predictable.
"What do you think she's trying to accomplish?" asked Ash.
"What a little kid," said Iris, "You don't even know?"
"Well do you?" he retorted which made Iris sweat drop.
She waggled a finger at him. "Of course I do. She's trying to use the will-o-wisp to burn up the ice. Then, she's going to use it to her advantage. Now that the ice is gone, when Dusknoir stands in the hole made by the ice, it'll be able to use Shadow Sneak and go underneath the ice, therefore not taking any damage by travelling through the ice!" Ash started, "Wow Iris, that was pretty smart."
"Of course, I'm not a little kid like you."
"You just guess didn't you Iris," asked Cilan with a smile.
Iris sweat dropped again. "Yeah, I admit it, I had no idea."
"Whatever the reason, Fantina and Red are pretty amazing battlers. I'm going to have to fine them if they get any more amazing!" Barry got out of his seat to shout which made everyone sweat drop from the stares he was receiving.
Iris was right however. Fantina used Shadow Sneak underneath the ice and waited for any opening. Red however, still had some tricks up his sleeve.
"Fire pulse!"
The crowd was sent into a questioning frenzy, "What in the world is a fire pulse? Is that some kind of new move?"
"I HEAR YOU GUYS," Freddy was saying, "I'VE GOT NO IDEA WHAT A FIRE PULSE IS EITHER, BUT SINCE HE'S THE KING OF MT. SILVER, I'M SURE IT'S SOME POWERFUL MOVE!"
Fire blast and dragon pulse combined broke the ice and hit the ground where Dusknoir's shadow was before it could even move. Dusknoir materialized again and was completely solid.
"Seismic Toss," commanded Red.
"You know fighting moves don't have any effect on ghost types," said Fantina. She was puzzled at what Red was trying to do. Unlike Pikachu, Charizard needed to take hold of Dusknoir before attacking so it obviously wasn't a battlefield altering move. What was he trying to do? "Dusknoir, get out of there!" Dusknoir struggled against Charizard's overwhelmingly strong grip but couldn't get free. "Try a Shadow Sneak!" Fantina was growing desperate. Something had changed in her Dusknoir when fire pulse hit and she knew it would end in catastrophe.
Dusknoir was thrown to the ground by Charizard's seismic toss and instantly fainted.
"Nooooooo!" screamed Fantina gracefully. The crowd was too much in shock to even react to her. A ghost type Dusknoir was just taken out by a fighting type move. That was defying what they had always been taught about battling. "How did you do it?" she asked him, "What happened?"
"Fire blast melts the ice, which also inflicted a burn on your Dusknoir, then dragon pulse shattered its shadow for this battle which makes it unable to activate it's ghost abilities which include evading fighting type moves," explained Red. The crowd looked on in shock while Freddy and Mr. Goodshow were shouting trying to tell the crowd how Red did it. Red smiled, "Don't feel bad, it took about two years for me to figure out the perfect balance and then another year to make it work."
"WELL FOLKS, AFTER A SENSATIONAL BATTLE HERE BETWEEN RED AND FANTINA, RED HAS EMERGED THE VICTOR AFTER DEFEATING ALL THREE OF FANTINA'S POKÉMON AND LOSING NONE! THIS FIRST BATTLE HAS GONE BY EXTREMELY QUICKLY AND AN AMAZING VICTORY FOR RED!
A/N: You guys having fun? I've uploaded quite a few chapters today. That's only because I've written them ahead of time. Expect only a chapter a week. And now we continue. Who wants to see Marie's battle?
